Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 12 September 2022 – Colliers, a leading diversified professional services and investment management company focusing on healthcare issued its latest white paper ‘Unlocking the “Hidden” Value’ on Financing Healthcare Projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The paper is the 17th edition of the “Pulse Series” of research papers on healthcare in the MENA Region. 

The paper highlights that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest markets in the region and the biggest in the GCC. KSA’s Vision 2030 combined with its population base of 35 million, the largest in the GCC, is driving fundamental structural changes across the Kingdom’s economy, including healthcare. With the introduction of several legal and economic incentives, including 100% foreign ownership, the healthcare sector is amongst the most attractive sectors in the Kingdom offering numerous opportunities for private sector operators and investors.

Mansoor Ahmed, Executive Director - Healthcare, Education, Development Solutions & PPP at Colliers, MENA, highlighted, “based on Colliers’ estimation, KSA will require approximately 19,000 – 20,000 additional beds by 2030, however, two of the biggest factors hindering the growth of KSA’s healthcare sector is the high cost of land and limited funds available for capital expenditure, especially for the construction of hospitals. The opportunity lies in exploring existing prospects within the sector by supporting expansion programs or to source alternative funding for new developments.”

He further highlighted, “unlocking the real estate assets through capital markets / REIT funds or through sales and leaseback in the Kingdom can potentially unlock US$ 59 to 63.4 billion only from property values against the required investment of approximately US$ 33.8 to 35.6 billion to establish approximately 19,500 additional beds by 2030 within both the public and private sectors, leaving US$ 26.4 - 29.4 billion unutilised, which can then be used towards upgrading the existing hospitals.”

“Colliers’ Healthcare team in the MENA region is actively supporting local, regional and international investors and operators to facilitate the development of greenfield and
brownfield projects, redevelopment and restructuring of existing healthcare facilities and helping investors and operators explore various investment options to develop the healthcare market in KSA,” concludes Mansoor.